


Hammers and Crowns

by Thatoneloser_kid



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Blacksmith!Kara, F/F, I suppose?, Knight!Alex, Medieval AU, Princess Lena
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-14 19:57:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9200096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatoneloser_kid/pseuds/Thatoneloser_kid
Summary: Kara is the town Blacksmith, Lena is the princess.Kara is asked to make a sword for Lena after a high number of attacks on the castle.





	1. Chapter 1

Lena hated how helpless she felt.

 

The castle had been attacked four times in half as many years, one of which the attackers managed to breach the confines of the castle walls and all Lena could do was sit in her room while her friends and guards went off to fight to keep her safe.

 

Lena _hated_ that she was useless so she went to her parents and asked for a sword, and to be taught how to use it.

 

They shot her down immediately, and kept telling her no the next fifteen times she asked. It wasn’t until she argued that it was better to be prepared in case someone _did_ managed to take down all of the Knights instead of being some kind of damsel in distress.

 

Her father had sighed, turned to one of the Knights, Knight Danvers, and asked for her to bring her sister to the castle the following day to talk.

 

“Why her sister?” Lena asked Lucy as they headed back to Lena's room.

 

“She the town Blacksmith.” Lucy answered, pommel of her sword that was by her hip. “She works with Maggie and James.”

 

“Ah, James,” Lena grinned knowingly, stifling a laugh when Lucy glared at her.

 

“You don’t have a sword yet, Princess, there’s nothing stopping me from hurting you with mine.”

 

“Okay,” Lena held up her hands in defence, pushing the door open to her quarters. “No talking about your boyfriend.”

 

"He's not my boyfriend!"

* * *

 

Alex showed up the following day, still dressed in her armour, a nervous looking blonde trailing behind her. The blonde girl was dressed in a relatively smart combination of tight pants and a wooden tunic.

 

The girl clasped her hands behind her back as she stood in front of the queen, King, Lena and Lex. She was trying to put across and air of confidence but Lena could see her nervously fidgeting with her sleeve, causing Lena to smile to herself, hiding it behind her hand. 

 

"You are the best Blacksmith in town, yes?" Lillian questioned and the girl glanced at her sister, who nodding minutely, before looking back at the queen. 

 

"I, uh, I believe so, ma'am."

 

"I want you to forge a sword for my daughter here, nothing too fancy, just something to keep her safe." Lillian motioned over to Lena, which forced Kara's eyes over to her. 

 

"Of course, ma'am. I will have to take a few measurements, of course, to determine the correct blade length and grip size." Kara's eyes lingered a little too long on Lena than Lena thought was probably appropriate. 

 

"Very well. Your sister will escort both of you to Lena's bedroom." Lillian waved her hand dismissively.

 

Lena slid off her throne on her mothers left side, walking alongside Alex to her room, Kara walking quietly on Alex’s other side. 

 

“Just call for me when you are finished and I will escort Kara back to her workshop.” Alex said, waiting for Lena to nod before giving Kara a small, calming smile and leaving.

 

Kara drew in a calming breath before turning to Lena, offering Lena a shy smile.

 

“Princess, you don’t mind if I take a few measurements, do you?”

 

“Of course not,” Lena assured, taking a few steps closer to Kara, who swallowed nervously. “Do what you have too.”

 

Kara’s mouth opened slightly as she tried to formulate a response. She ended up nodding instead, averting her eyes away from Lena to try and regain her composure.

 

“Okay, so you are—“ Kara took a step back, eyeing Lena thoughtfully. “I think the perfect blade size for how tall you are would be… twenty-eight inches.”

 

“Yeah can just tell that by looking at me?”

 

“It’s something you learn,” Kara shrugged, offering Lena a crooked little smile.

 

Lena found herself smiling back, frowning down at Kara's hands when she held them out to her. 

 

“Can I see your hands? I need to decide what the size of your grip should be.”

 

“Oh, sure,” Lena placed her hands in Kara’s, palm up, the back of her hands resting on the palms of Kara’s.

 

The first thing she noticed about Kara's hands was the roughness, her had calluses on her palms, and her fingertips as she ran them thoughtfully over the back of her hands.

 

Lena looked up from their hands, her eyes flickering from Kara's long lashes to her cupids bow. She looked up at Kara's eyes again just as Kara glanced up, doing a double take when she noticed Lena staring, a shy smile pulling it’s way onto her lips.

 

“Is everything okay in here?”

 

Kara hurried to withdraw her hands at the voice, quickly stepping away from Lena like they had been doing something wrong, and maybe they had been? She didn’t really know _what_ had just happened. Kara's eyes snapped to the woman standing in the doorway, Lena's mother, the goddamn _queen._

 

“Yes, your highness.”

 

“Good, you are dismissed, call in again when the sword is finished, you will get your payment then.”

 

“Yes, your highness.” Kara dipped her head before quickly leaving the room.

 

“What was that?” Lillian asked and Lena didn’t look at her mother when she spoke, she didn’t want her to see how much the encounter with Kara had really shook her.

 

“What?”

 

“That,”

 

Lena finally turned to her mother, raising her eyebrow challengingly. “ _What?”_

 

“Out of everyone you could have you choose a blacksmith, a _woman_ ,”

 

“She was checking the size of my hands to decide what size the grip should be.”

 

“Don’t embarrass your father and I,” Her mom ordered warningly and Lena rolled her eyes as she pushed past her and out of the room. 

* * *

 

 

“You got caught doing what?” Alex questioned, her hand resting on the pommel of her sword as she walked Kara out of the castle, nodding once at the guards at the gate.

 

“I don’t know, nothing I don’t think.” Kara frowned, “We weren’t doing anything, I was doing my job.”

 

“But?”

 

“It felt like we got caught doing something. When the Queen entered we both jumped away from one and other pretty quickly, like we had been doing something that the queen should not have seen.”

 

“What were you doing?”

 

“I was checking the size of her hands, that’s all.”

 

“That’s all?”

 

“Well, I was kind of holding her hand as I was doing so.”

 

“So that’s not all, then.” Alex sighed, rolling her eyes. “You need to be careful, look what happened to Sara Lance when Lena got caught having an affair with her.”

 

“What happened to her?” Kara frowned in confusion, last she heard Sara was in Gotham village. "And it is not like that with Lena and I, I just admire her, I don't like her like that."

 

“Exactly, no one knows. But no one has seen her since it all came to light.” 

 

“The Queen didn’t do anything to her,” Kara scoffed, rolled her eyes at Alex. “Sara Lance is engaged to a tailor in Gotham.”

 

“Who do you think forced her out of the village? Do you think she left on her own volition? She and Lena were in love, and you knew Sara, she would never give up on someone she cared about.” Alex waved her free hand around as she spoke. “She was obviously forced to leave.”

 

“By the queen?”

 

“Well, of course. Could you imagine if everyone found out that the _princess_ had been courted by a woman?” Alex spat in a bitter tone. “The village would be in uproar, calling for Lena’s head because she is _unnatural_.”

 

“She’s the princess, surely she can do as she pleases.” Kara frowned. 

 

“Of course not. She’s the princess, she has a reputation of upkeep, which means she is majorly restricted in what she can and can’t do.” Alex explained. “I’ve worked for the Luthors for over five years, I’ve see what she goes through in the castle and, I tell you, I do not envy her.”

 

“That sounds awful,” Kara frowned softly, pushing open the door to the Blacksmiths, looking at Alex over her shoulder. “Are you coming in?”

 

“I need to get back to the castle,” 

 

“Maggie is working,” Kara grinned back at her sister before waltzing into the workshop.

 

Alex sighed, putting her hand out to stop the door just before it closed completely.

 

“Danvers,” Maggie called, unsurprisingly spotting Alex first, offering Kara a smile when she spotted her, too. “Little Danvers. How was it?”

 

“Fine, scary. The queen is kind of terrifying.” Kara laughed nervously, moving past Maggie and toward her work station.

 

“That bad?” Maggie leant back against the counter in front of Alex, pulling off the gloves she was wearing.

 

“Worse,” Alex sighed, glancing around the workshop as she took a step closer to Maggie, smiling down at her when she determined the workshop was relatively quiet.

 

“What happened?” Maggie asked quietly, taking a hold of Alex’s hand.

 

“Something between Kara and the princess.” Alex raked her free hand through her hair. 

 

“Uh oh,” Maggie hummed.

 

“Uh oh,” Alex agreed, using her knuckles to wipe away dirt from Maggie’s cheek. “Kara has always kind of had a thing for Lena, since she was a kid she ‘admired the pretty girl with pretty green eyes and pretty dresses’. I never thought she would meet Lena so I didn’t think to sit down and explain to her that she didn’t just _admire_ the princess.”

 

“Maybe you should now,” Maggie suggested, glancing back Kara who was now dressed in her work clothes and was laughing as she spoke James and Winn. “The thing about Kara, which is both a good and a bad attribute, is that she is kind of naive, and pretty oblivious. She goes into this blind and it gives her no time to brace herself for the repercussions.”

 

“Repercussions of what?” Alex frowned. “My sister isn’t risking her life by having an affair with the princess.”

 

“You can’t stop who your sister falls for, Alex.” Maggie said, giving Alex a knowing look. “You should know what hiding your feelings for someone can do to you.”

 

Alex rolled her eyes at the playful dig, “That was different, neither one of us are princesses. This,” Alex motioned between the two of them. “Won’t get one of us shunned from the village like it did Sara Lance.”

 

“That’s true,” Maggie agreed. “But you can’t _stop_ her if this is what she wants, she will resent you for that. Can you imagine if Kara tried to stop us from getting together, how you would feel about that.”

 

Alex huffed, “You’re supposed to agree with me, you’re my girlfriend.”

 

“And as you’re girlfriend I have to be honest with you.” Maggie flashed Alex a cheeky grin, pulling her in for a quick kiss. “You’d better get back to work.”

 

“I’ll see you tonight,”

 

“Can’t wait,”

 

Alex smiled, almost shyly at Maggie, as she called goodbye to her sister and left.

* * *

 

 

When Lena saw Kara for the second time she looked entirely different, where she had been all done up and proper in the castle she was now grubby and dirty looking. she was dressed in what Lena assumed was her work clothes, a vest and a loose pair of slacks, covered in what seemed to be a leather apron. Her hair was pulled back messily and she was glistening, her skin covered in sweat and dirt.

 

She was pounded down on a red hot piece of metal with a hammer, trying to flatten out the metal, her muscles rippling with every strike.

 

Lena couldn’t stop herself from lingering back and just admiring the surprisingly strong woman.

 

“You sure do scrub up well, don't you?”

 

Kara stopped mid-strike, whipping around to look at Lena. “Princess,” She fumbled to put her hammer in her tool belt and bow. “What can I do for you? Have you changed your mind on what you want from the sword?”

 

“No, I just thought I would come down and see how the sword is made.”

 

“Oh, uh,” Kara glanced around, quickly moving everything off the chair she had near her work station and wiping it down, motioning toward it with a smile. “Take a seat, can I get you anything?”

 

“Relax, Kara. I’m not here as the Princess, I’m here because I’m curious.”

 

“No offence, but you could never _not_ be the princess.”

 

Lena sighed but nodded, because Kara was right.

 

Lena took a seat, watch Kara as she moved to pick up the tongs that were holding the now cool metal, heading over to the furnace and placing it inside, looking at Lena over her shoulder.

 

“Do you- can you handle a sword?” Kara asked.

 

“No, but I’m sure my mother will have someone teach me.”

 

Kara nodded, waiting for the metal to begin glowing before quickly moving over to her station, pulling her hammer out of her tool belt and pounding the metal.

 

She done that five times under Lena’s watchful eye, ignoring the anxious feeling that was bubbling in her chest. 

 

She felt herself becoming a little hot under Lena’s look, she decided to blame it on the hot metal and the physical activity.

 

“You want to try?” Kara asked, giving the metal one final hit before turning to Lena, arching her eyebrows at her.

 

“Really?” Lena looked unsurely at the hammer in Kara’s hand, a little smile appearing on her lips when she noticed Kara’s little grin.

 

Kara moved aside, flipping the hammer smoothly to hold the head (and _maybe_ Lena was a little bit attracted to that), holding it out to Lena. “Go nuts, Princess.”

 

“Lena,” Lena corrected, pushing herself off the chair and making her way over to Kara, accepting the hammer. “ _Please_ , just Lena.”

 

Kara nodded, almost unsurely, allowing Lena to take ahold of the hammer, motioning toward the red hot metal on the anvil. “Just hammer away, I need to flatten out the metal to the right length.”

 

“Just hammer?” Lena questioned, a little distracted by just how close Kara was standing to her, still holding the tongs.

 

“With all you’ve got,” Kara nodded with a crooked little smile. 

 

Lena nodded slowly, her eyes fluttering down to Kara’s lips briefly before she turned her eyes to the metal. “Okay,”

 

Lena wound her arm back, bringing the hammer down with a surprising amount of force. She pounded the metal three solid times before Kara’s hand on her arm stopped her.

 

“You’re definitely stronger than you look,” Kara laughing, sounding almost nervous, as she flipping the metal over. “Now this side.”

 

Lena did the same to the other side of the metal, stopping after the third strike.

 

“What do you do in that castle that made you this strong?” Kara asked teasingly, lifting up the metal and taking it back over to the furnace.

 

"Wouldn't you like to know.”

 

“What’s it like?”

 

“Being a princess?” Lena arched her eyebrow questioningly. “How do you think it is?”

 

“I think it is probably not nearly as good as I imagine it to be.” Kara said, entirely focused on heating up the metal in front of her.

 

“What makes you say that?”

 

Kara shrugged, taking the metal out and moving quickly to her station. “Just a hunch."

 

"It's not really something I feel like talking about," Lena said, looking through her eyelashes at Kara. 

 

Kara smiled softly in reply, nudging her head toward the metal. "Show me what you're made of."

 

Lena chuckled, readying herself to hit the metal.

 

They worked like that for the next hour. Well, Lena lasted around three more rounds of hammering before she was tired, handing the mallet off to Kara who grinned ("Don't you say a word, Danvers."). 

 

They spoke while Kara worked, about trivial stuff mostly; Kara about her sister and her adoptive family (they didn't really go into _why_ she was adopted) and Lena about her reasons for wanting the sword. 

 

They laughed a few times, James even entered at one point but upon spotting the princess made an excuse to leave.

 

“Thank you," Lena smiled gratefully at Kara as she walked her to the door. "This was a surprisingly good way of getting out frustrations.”

 

“Anytime,” Kara wiped her hand on her shirt before lifting her hand to Lena's cheek.

 

Lena was a little surprised but she didn’t move, curious to see what exactly Kara was doing. She couldn’t help but be a little disappointed when she simply wiped away a smear of coal from her cheek. "Can't have you going back to the castle dirty, can we?" Kara grinned that cute little grin that had Lena's stomach flipping over itself.

 

"I suppose not," 

 

"If being the heir to the kingdom doesn’t work out for you you definitely have a job here.” 

 

"I'll keep that in mind," Lena put her hand on the handle but didn't move to open it. 

 

Kara stared over at her, looking half curious and half something else, something Lena wasn't entirely sure the meaning of. 

 

Lena just stared right back, only breaking eye contact when the door at the rear of the workshop rattled closed. 

 

"How, uh- when do you think it will be ready?" She questioned as Alex came into view, her happy smile turning into a suspicious frown. 

 

"Princess," she said, almost curiously. 

 

"All other projects have been put on hold, yours should be done in around a week."

 

Lena nodded, moving her eyes to Alex. "Knight Danvers, have you been sent to escort me back to the castle?"

 

"No, I'm not sure the king and Queen are even aware of your absence on the ground." Alex said. "But I can escort you back if you need me to?"

 

"No, that's quite alright, I can make my own way back." Lena answered, not missing the look Kara gave her sister, which meant nothing to her but it seemed to mean something to Alex, who sighed. 

 

"I have to go to the castle to speak with Knight Lane, I will escort you back."

 

"I don't need escorted back, I got here okay." Lena said, directed more at Kara than Alex. 

 

Kara forged innocence, like she hadn't just practically begged her sister to take Lena back to the castle. "She's going back anyway, you heard her." 

 

Lena gave Kara and incredulous look but ultimately agreed to allow Alex to escort her back to the castle. 

 

"We are talking about this when I'm back!" Alex hissed at Kara as she passed. 

 

"About what?" Kara tried to act innocent but she knew Alex knew her better than that. 

* * *

 

Alex came back about an hour and a half later and lectured her. ("What did we _just_ talk about, Kara!?"

 

"I didn't talk about anything, you did all the talking.")

 

She spend the next week jumping every time the door opened, hoping the princess would walk in and smile at her with that captivating smile but every time she was disappointed, to the point where Winn was actually offended ("Nice to see you, too, Danvers.").

 

She didn't even really realise she was talking about Lena so much until James dropped his mallet and turned to look at her, "Okay, we have to talk about this." He sighed. 

 

"About what?" Kara frowned. 

 

"Your obvious crush on the princess!"

 

"I don't- What? No, I don't have a crush on Lena Luther, that's absurd." Kara scoffed. "I just admire her, ask Alex, I always have."

 

"I know what admiration looks like, this is more than that."

 

"It's not," Kara disagreed, turning away from James. "It isn't."

* * *

 

“James says Kara has been talking about you,” Lucy commented casually as she brushed out the fur of the horse in front of her. " _A lot."_

 

"The blacksmith?" Lena asked equally as casual, successfully hiding the way her heart rate spiked at the sound of the other girls name. 

 

"Oh, don't act coy, princess." Lucy laughed. "I know you were hanging around the Smiths Workshop last week. James also told me that."

 

"It's not a big deal, Lucy." Lena concentrated solely on getting the mud out of the horses hooves. 

 

"Kara is a good girl, I've known her since the Danvers took her in ten years ago. She's pretty much everything that is good in a person, she is entirely too trusting, sweet, she will go out of her way to make sure everyone else is okay."

 

"What do you think I'm going to do to her?" Lena sighed, dropping the horses foot and petting it's side as she turned to look at Lucy. 

 

Lucy shrugged, almost sympathetically, "It's not you I'm worried about, Lena."

 

Lena nodded slowly, dropping her hoof pick into the bucket at her feet. "It's nothing, honestly." 

 

"But you want it to be something?" Lucy questioned carefully. She and Lena were friends, pretty good friends, but she didn't want to overstep her boundaries. Lena's sigh was enough of an answer for Lucy. "Look, I get it, Lena. Really, I do, Kara is a beautiful woman, she's nice, funny, I _understand_."

 

"But?"

 

"No but," Lucy shrugged. "I haven't seen you even look at someone else since Sara. If it is going to happen, you have to be careful, and you have to tell Kara straight up because she may be a clever woman but she is oblivious to this kind of thing."

 

"I'm not- I _can't_." Lena sat down on the stole beside her, cleaning her brush in her bucket.

 

"Why not?" Lucy frowned and Lena just looked up at her. "Sara?"

 

Lena nodded minutely, her eyes dropping back to her hands. 

 

"It's been two years, Lena. You have to let her go."

 

"That's not what this is about."

 

“Then what is it about?”

 

“I can’t be the reason someone else’s live gets uprooted and changed like I was with Sara’s. It is because of me she is in Gotham village, I’m the reason she was forced to - to marry that tailor. I’m the reason Sara is living an unfulfilled life.”

 

“No you aren’t. Sure, ultimately it was her connection to you that caused all of that but she _knew_ the risks, Lena. She _knew_ what the queen was capable of, she _knew_ all of the things that could have happened to her but she stayed because she thought you were worth all of that.  I know you feel like it is your fault but if it is anyone’s fault it is your mothers.”

 

“I can’t do that to Kara,” Lena shook her head gentle, “I can’t be the reason she gets forced out of the village. Not to mention how knight Danvers would react, that is her young sister.”

 

“I understand,” Lucy nodded. “But you live you’re life like that you are never going to be happy.”

 

“Maybe I don’t deserve to be,” 

 

Lucy was about to disagree, she maybe be Lena’s head Knight but she was also her best friend, but before she could say anything Alex appeared at the door of the stable, informing them that Kara would be at the castle with in the hour with Lena’s finished sword.

 

Kara was wearing her smart clothes again when she entered the castle along side her sister, a wide smile pulling onto her lips when she spotted Lena, sitting on her throne beside her mother.

 

She waited for the queen to address her and to instruct her to give Lena the sword before she walked over to the princess, kneeling down on one knee in front of her, holding the sword out. She peered up at Lena through her eyelashes as she waiting for her to take the sword.

 

Lena stood, accepting the sword from Kara. 

 

The Scabbard was a dark green, trimmed with silver and the grip was a soft leather.

 

The pommel of the sword was round with a green stone in the middle the refracted the like beautifully. The guard was straight, curling up and tapering off at the edges into three separate spikes on either side. Lena unsheathed the sword about half way, suppressing a smile when she saw the design on the blade. The day she had gone down to the Blacksmiths she had complained to Kara about how female swords tended to be a little to feminine for her liking whereas male swords were covered in cool patterns and designs.

 

Kara seemed to have actually listened to her, not only with the sword guard, which was a design she had never seen on on a woman sword before, but the design on the blade was intricate and Lena could tell Kara out _a lot_ of work into the blade design alone.

 

“Thank you, Miss Danvers.” Lena addressed her, offering her a soft, reserved smile.

 

Kara nodded, bowing her head and standing up again, moving to stand beside her sister again.

 

“Smithy, you know how to wield a sword, yes?” Kara’s eyes snapped to Lionel when he spoke, which was relatively rare, it was usually the Queen who done most of the talking. 

 

“I do, sir.” Kara clasped her hand behind her back.

 

“Good, problem solved.” He said, addressing his wife who looked pressed unimpressed. “Lillian has been having issues finding someone she trusts to teach Lena how to properly fight.”

 

“That doesn’t mean I want the _Blacksmith_ doing it.” Lillian spat the word like it was some filthy word, which caused Kara to stare down at her feet briefly, glancing up at Lena who was looking at her with a sympathetic look.

 

“Kara made the sword, she put hours of her time into creating it, she knows how to fight, she is a trusted and well liked member to the village.” Lionel spoke slowly, leaving very little room for _anyone_ to argue. He turned to address Kara again. “You can take the time to teach Lena how to properly fight, yes?”

 

“Y-yes, your highness, sir.” Kara answered unsurely, glancing at everyone in the room. All eyes were on her; Alex, Lillian, Lucy, Lena. Only Lionel being the one who was unaware of the tension between Lena and Kara.

 

“Lionel,” Lillian tried to argue but Lionel held his hand up, immediately shutting her up.

 

“Fantastic,” The man smiled. “You are dismissed, Miss Danvers, I will have your sister inform you of when your assistance will be required.”

 

“Of course, sir.” Kara nodded, following Alex out of the throne room.

 

“I can’t believe you agreed to that! Did you _see_ the queens face? She is mad.”

 

“I couldn’t say no to the king, Alex!”

 

“You are making a _very_ powerful enemy in Lilian Luthor, Kara.”

 

“I’m not _doing_ anything to warrant her hating me.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Alex hissed, stopping walking and pulling her sister around to look at her. “You _like_ Lena! The queen knows that, James knows that, Lucy, Winn, _I_ know that. _Lillian. Knows. That._ Everyone but _you_ can see it.”

 

“I-“

 

“Do _not_ say you admire her, Kara! You know that’s not the case, if you really put some thought into it.”

 

Kara clenched her jaw, trying to ignore the way her stomach dropped anxiously.

 

“Let’s talk about this at home.”

 

And they did.

 

Well, Alex done most of the talking, explained to Kara that, sure, she might admire Lena but it was certainly more than that, it probably always had been. Kara figured she had probably known that it was more than that for a while, but between was happened to Sara and knowing Lena was so out of her league she was terrified so she subconsciously pushed the feelings away. Keeping the feelings so deep inside that she didn’t even realise that she was feeling something more for Lena until now. This definitely explained the nervous, giddy feeling she had when she was around the Princess.

 

Kara threw herself into work after that, waiting anxiously to hear from the king on when she would be starting training.

 

It had been four days since her talk with Alex, four days since she had seen Lena last, four days since she had a good nights sleep, when Lena appeared in the Workshop again.

 

“Why green?” Lena asked as she was shaping a piece of metal. Kara stopped, looking over her shoulder at Lena. Kara was in her work clothes, her hair messy and the top half of her face covered in dirt while her mouth and nose were covered in a wet rag. She should look totally unattractive, _this_ should be what should put Lena off this woman but Lena couldn’t help but be completely charmed by the smudges of dirt and coal marrying the girls face.

 

“Hey,” Kara greeted, pulling down the wet rag she was using to protect herself from the flakes of metal, making her way over to Lena. “Is everything okay? Is the sword up to your standards?”

 

“Everything is fine,” Lena assured, and Kara nodded unsurely.

 

“Do you need something else?”

 

“No, I— maybe this was a bad idea.”

 

“What was a bad idea?” Kara frowned, pulling off her gloves, throwing them on her work bench.

 

“I wanted to see you.”

 

“You did?” Kara was clearly surprised at that admission. Lena nodded. “Why?”

 

“I don’t know,” Lena shrugged, “You make everything feel less.. heavy, I suppose.”

 

“You can come down any time,” Kara said against her better judgement.

 

“I promised I would stay away from you,” Lena chuckled quietly, strolled slowly over to the chair she had sat on a week and a half prior.

 

“Who did you make that promise to?” Kara wiped at her face, obviously sensing that she had dirt all over her face but she only managed to smudge more all over herself. Kara was ready to hear Alex’s name, because it was entirely in Alex’s protective nature to threaten a damn princess.

 

“Myself,” 

 

This had Kara confused, did Lena know how Kara felt, everyone else but Kara had, was it weirding her out? Did Lena want to stay away from her because she wanted to preserve Kara’s feelings?

 

“Did I do something?” Kara questioned softly, trying not to sound hurt as she slid up onto the workbench across from Lena.

 

“No, Kara, it is not you.” Lena assured, shuffling forward on the chair to get as close to possible to Kara without standing up, staring Kara straight in the eyes. 

 

“Are you saying it’s you?” Kara questioned in confusion.

 

“It’s not me directly, no.” Lena peered up at Kara before turning her eyes to her clasped hands. “My mom.”

 

“She doesn’t like me?” Kara frowned when Lena shook her head. “Why not?”

 

“Well, my mom doesn’t really like _anyone_ ,” Lena sighed. “Look, I’m guessing with you being Knight Danvers’ kid sister you know about Sara?”

 

Kara nodded unsurely when Lena finally lifted her eyes to look at her.

 

“Then you know what my mother did, how she banished her from the village, sending her off to Gotham?”

 

“Yes,”

 

“I can’t be the reason that happens again.”

 

“There is two issues with that, Lena,” Kara said, sliding off the workbench and moving to sit on the anvil directly beside Lena. “One; this isn’t like that, you and Sara were… _together_ , right? We aren’t. And second, you live your life thinking like that, like everything is your fault, pushing people away, you will never be happy.”

 

“Lucy said the same thing,”

 

“Lucy is a smart woman,” Kara hummed.

 

“And it may be different from us but in my mothers mind, any woman I spend time with outside of the knights is someone I am having a sordid affair with.” Lena rolled her eyes and Kara couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

 

“Then we keep it between us,” Kara shrugged, gaining a curious look from Lena. “I feel like you need a friend outside of your Knights and I want to spend time with you, I need friends outside of my family and workmates.”

 

“You’re willing to risk what my mother could do to you because you want to _spend time_ with me? That’s it?” Lena asked, entirely unconvinced. 

 

“What else would it be?” Kara tilted her head a little to the left, looking at Lena with earnest eyes and that’s when Lena realised for the first time in a long while that _maybe_ someone wanted to be around her for her.

 

“A lot of other things,”

 

“I don’t want anything from you, Lena.” Kara assured. “I don’t _need_ anything. I’m not living like royalty but both my sister and I have great jobs, we aren't really strapped for anything.” 

 

Lena didn’t say anything, she still wasn’t entirely convinced.

 

“Is it so hard to believe that someone enjoys spending time with you?” Kara sounded like she was almost pleading with Lena. For what, Lena wasn’t sure.

 

“When it is a risk to their lively hood, yes.”

 

“What makes you think you aren’t worth it?”

 

“You aren’t understanding me here, Kara!” Lena snapped, shooting up from her chair, wheeling around to glare at Kara.

 

“Then make me understand,” Kara requested softly, getting to her feet and moving to stand in front of Lena. “Tell me what it is?”

 

“Sara get forced out of the village, Kara, the place she grew up and worked her entire life, because of me. And I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if Sara refused to leave.” Lena explained, her tone much softer than it had been previously.

 

“Did you love her?” Kara questioned and Lena bit down on her lower lip, nodding slowly.

 

“I did,” Lena muttered. “I can’t have that happen with you.”

 

“What? You can’t love me?”

 

“No,” Lena sighed. “Well, yes, but no. I can’t have your life being completely altered because of me, I can’t _do_ that to someone else.”

 

“Why does it have to be your choice?”

 

“Because it is on my conscience.” Lena answered simple, in a tone that told Kara there was no room for argument, in a tone that reminded Kara of a queen.

 

“Is that the only reason you came down? To tell me this?”

 

“No, I really did come down to see you, I meant it when I said that being around you is nice. And I _really_ thought I could be selfish, I really thought I could ignore the fact that this could be potentially life threatening to you but I just,” Lena huffed out a breath, shaking her head. “I just _can’t,_ Kara. I can’t do that to you.”

 

“Okay, I understand.” Kara nodded sadly, taking a step away from Lena.

 

“I will see you in a few days, my dad said it shouldn't be long until training starts, but we are traveling to Blue Valley in the morning, we won’t be back for a few days.” Lena explained before turning and heading for the door.

 

“You’re eyes,” Kara called after her just as she reached the door. Lena stopped walking but didn’t turn to look at her. “You asked why I used so much green on the sword. It matches your eyes.”

 

Lena drew in a breath, her shoulders tensing and she lingered for a little bit, like she was trying to decide what to do, but after a few seconds she decided to leave.

 

Kara sighed when the door banged closed, shaking her head and turning to her back to the backlog of work she had.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Sunny-D,” a cheerful voice called and Kara couldn’t help the smile that stretched across her face at the sound of her best friends voice. A voice she hadn’t heard in a while.

 

She dropped her tools and wheeled around, her eyes landing on a grinning Barry Allen.

 

“Barry!” Kara rushed over, wrapping him up in a tight hug. She hadn’t seen Barry in two weeks, he was away on business in Starlight Village for ten days, Kara had hoped to see him before he set off to transport the Queen and Princess to Blue Valley but he had only been back less than an hour before he set off again. “How was Starlight Village? How was Blue Valley?”

 

“It was okay,” Barry pulled back slightly, his wide grin still firmly planted on his lips. “The Princess was particularly mean this trip, she made three people cry, which is two more than usual.”

 

Kara’s smile faltered at the mention of Lena, and Berry definitely noticed, she always did, but he didn’t mention it.

 

“Anyway, enough about me, how has everything been here?” Barry asked.

 

“Fine, yeah.” Kara nodding, pulling back from the hug and moving to lean against her work station, Barry following her, sliding up onto the surface. “I got called up to the castle the day you left, the Princess wanted a sword, so I was working on that for a week.”

 

Barry narrowed his eyes, tilting his head at Kara. “What aren’t you telling me?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Oh, come on, Kara, I’ve known you long enough to know when you’re hiding something from me.” Barry scoffed, placing a hand on Kara’s shoulder. “What is it, Kara?”

 

“Something happened with Lena,” Kara said. “Well, not really. I don’t know. We just- We spent a little time together and it was _nice.”_

 

“Ah,” Barry hummed with an amused little smile, gently squeezing Kara’s shoulder. 

 

“What?”

 

“Well, you’ve had a thing for Lena since you laid eyes on her, you just didn’t know it.”

 

“Was everybody aware of this but me?” Kara huffed.

 

“Pretty much, kid.” Barry laughed, “So, what happened?”

 

“Nothing really, I was happy just being her friend, just getting to spend time with her, but she is just so messed up by what happened to Sara.” Kara sighed sadly. “She told me she couldn’t do that to someone again, that she can’t spend time with me, even if she did like spending time with me.”

 

“So that’s why she was so angry the entire trip.”

 

Kara continued to talk about the past two weeks, what had happened between Lena in the castle that first day, and how nice of a day they had when Lena came down to visit the first time.

 

“It’s getting late, we have to get ready.” 

 

“For what?”

 

“The Village banquet?”

 

“Right,” Kara completely forgot that tonight was the village banquet, set up by the king every three months (The queen tried to argue that it wasn’t a good idea, he didn’t listen). There was food provided by the royal family, there was drinks, dancing, entertainment, it was just an all round fun night.  

 

Yet, Kara definitely wasn’t looking forward to it this time around.

 

“Come on, little Danvers, lets go have a good time.”

 

“I have some horseshoes to finish, but I will be ready to leave in a little while.”

 

“Fine, I’m going to get dressed but once I am I’m coming back to get you and we are going to enjoy ourselves.”

 

“Are you forcing me to enjoy myself?”

 

“I am,” Barry laughed, planting a kiss on Kara’s head before hopping off the workbench. “I will see you in a little bit.”

 

“Don’t you have any advice? About the Lena thing?”

 

Barry turned to look at her, back-peddling toward the door and holding his hands up in a ‘i don’t know’ gesture. “Nothing you really can do, Kara. She’s made up her mind, she has a good reason to do what she is doing, respect it, move on.” He said, stopping just as he reached the door. “I know it hurts, and I’m not going to tell you it will be easy, it won’t be, it is going to hurt every time you see her, there is always going to be that ‘what if’ feeling but there are just some things you have to let go, Kara. This is one of them, it will be better for both of you if you do.”

 

“What if this was it for us?” Kara questioned timidly.

 

“It would never have worked. As an affair, sure, it would have been exciting, exhilarating, but as a long time thing?” Barry gave her a sympathetic look. “What do you think would happen? You guys would run away, live happily ever after?” His voice wasn’t patronising, which was nice, he sounded caring.

 

“I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.”

 

“Some things you just can’t have, no matter how much you want them or how hard you’re willing to work for it.”

 

Kara nodded solemnly.

 

“I’m sorry, kid, sometimes things just don’t go your way.” Barry said sympathetically, giving Kara one last smile before leaving.

 

Kara sighed, mulling over Barry’s words as she got back to work.

 

—

 

Barry was back in the workshop a little over an hour later, just as Kara was finishing the last horseshoe. He helped her out by cleaning up her mess while she finished up. He continued cleaning while Kara went upstairs to her living quarters to get changed.

 

He eyes her with a knowing smile when she came downstairs wearing the prettiest dress she owned, a flowing, coral blue number that contrasted well with her skin and really really brought out her eyes. It also may give a great view of her cleavage, but that was just a coincidence.

 

Kara knew why Barry was looking at her like that, she never got dressed up for court banquets, but she still got defensive (“What?”

 

“Nothing, you look good.”).

 

James, Maggie and Winn greeted them at the gates to the castle, both of them looking at Kara suspiciously but ultimately didn’t comment.

 

They took a seat at their usually table, a pretty good table, toward the front of the court yard, because with Kara’s status as the town blacksmith and Alex being second in command to the head of the guard, they received a lot of privileges with that.

 

Kara’s eyes moved to the elevated level at the front of the court yard, were the royal family will be sitting and she sighed, jumping when a pair of clamped down onto her shoulder, giving them a little squeeze.

 

“You are more dressed up than usually,” Alex commented, a comment everyone else around the table probably wanted to make but didn’t.

 

“I thought I would make an effort,” Kara shrugged.

 

“Mm,” Alex hummed and Kara didn’t have to look up at her to know that Alex was looking at her accusingly. “Convenient.”

 

Kara ignored her, picking up her wine and taking a sip.

 

“I thought I would come over and see you guys before I had to get to work.”

 

“You mean you thought you would come and see Maggie,” Kara commented, grinning behind her goblet.

 

Alex glared at the back of her head, gently batting her on the side of her head when she didn’t look at her.

 

“Ouch, Alex!” Kara grumbled, rubbing her head, glaring up at her sister.

 

“Don’t start me,” 

 

Kara grumbled under her breath, taking another drink of her wine.

 

“I have to get back inside, don’t get to drunk.” Alex said, directed at Kara more than anyone else. She listed her eyes to address Winn across the table. “Don't let her get drunk."

 

"I can take care of myself," Kara argued but Alex ignored her, giving Barry the same warning look she gave Winn. 

 

The royal family came out ten minutes after Alex left, everyone standing and bowing to welcome them. 

 

Kara sat with her chin in her hand after that, alternating between watching the per-dinner entertainment and watching her finger circle around the rim of her glass. 

 

Lena's eyes found her immediately, Kara had been sitting at the same table with the Danvers since she got welcomed into the family, and she continued to sit there after they passed, so she knew exactly where Kara would be. 

 

She noticed Kara's mood and sighed, calling Alex over with a finger. 

 

"Yes, princess?" Alex questioned, dipping down to Lena's level when Lena motioned her to do so. 

 

"Your sister, is she okay?" Lena questioned quietly.

 

"Kara is one of those people who thinks if you try and want hard enough anything is possible," Alex explained lowly, moving her eyes from Kara to Lena, briefly looking at Lillian to make sure she wasn't watching them. "She doesn't understand the things I spoke to her about, the things _you_ spoke to her about. She will, eventually, realise this is for the best but right now... I don't know- I think she's hurting."

 

"The last thing I wanted was to hurt her," Lena sighed. 

 

"That was kind of inevitable. Kara doesn't... feel, often, she's been through so much that she deems it dangerous, but when she does it is intense. She'll get over it, it will just take some time."

 

Lena nodded solemnly, watching Kara as she drained the rest of her wine. "That is her fourth glass in the space of an hour."

 

"I know, if she continues at this rate I will have to go down and remove the wine myself."

 

Lena nodded, "Thank you, knight Danvers."

 

\--

 

Lena kept a close eye on Kara throughout the night, noticing the way Barry was all over her, noticing how the only time Kara really laughed was at something Barry said, and she cursed herself for that familiar feeling she felt bubbling in her chest, a feeling she only every had with Sara. 

 

Kara forced herself to keep her eyes away from Lena, even when the queen was making a speech she kept her eyes glued to her. 

 

It was just after dinner when she got up to leave, quickly while Barry was away from the table, claiming the princesses sword had set her way back and she had a lot of work to do. But before she could leave, as she was walking through the crowd of people on the dance floor so to lower her chances of getting caught, she felt a hand lightly grab her own, pulling her in closer. 

 

"Going somewhere?" A voice whispered into her ear, her arms being slung around their shoulders. 

 

"I don't want to be here," Kara grumbled, linking her hands behind Barry's neck. 

 

"Well, this is me forcing you to have fun," Barry said, his hands resting respectfully midway up Kara's back. "There's unlimited food, Danvers, that's totally your thing."

 

"I really don't want to be here, Barry." Kara sighed and Barry took ahold of her hands. She really thought he was about to let her leave, which was stupid, she knew Barry and that just wasn't him, instead he spun her out before pulling her back in. Kara couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her throat when their bodies clashed together. 

 

"If anything show her you're unaffected by this," 

 

"But I am,"

 

"Then pretend. Pull a smile onto that pretty face and act like everything is okay." Barry gave he waist a little squeeze. 

 

Kara rolled her eyes but smiled anyway, her cheek resting against Barry's shoulder as they rocked back and forth to the music. 

 

"So, what's happening with you and Iris?"

 

"What? Pft, nothing. Why do you think it is something?" Barry muttered against the side of Kara's head. 

 

"Please, you've been in love with her since the West's took you in." 

 

"That's not-" Barry tried to argue but Kara pulled back and gave him a look. "Fine. But nothing is happening, nothing will."

 

“Why not?”

 

“That’s like you dating Alex,” Barry said and Kara shrugged, giving Barry a curious look. “Wouldn’t that be weird?”

 

“We aren’t related.” Kara shrugged. “I wouldn’t date Alex, but I don’t think it would be weird if I did, not for that reason, anyway.”

 

“She is dating the royal peacemaker.” Barry sighed. “Eddie Thawne, I missed my chance, she’s happy now.”

 

Kara sighed sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Barry.”

 

“It’s my own fault,” He shrugged. “I waited too long.”

 

“Why couldn’t we like each other?” Kara huffed. “We’d be totally great together!”

 

“I know!” Barry agreed with a laugh. “Yet, here we are, wanting what we can’t have.”

 

“Mm,” Kara hummed sadly.

 

“Now I’m feeling down.” Barry sighed, his shoulders dropping.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Barry waved his hand dismissively, taking a step away from Kara. “Let’s just go? We can go to the workshop and drown our sorrows in the home made wine Joe made."

 

“I like that idea,”

 

Barry grinned broadly, offering the bend of his elbow to Kara, bowing his head playfully. “M’lady.”

 

Kara rolled her eyes but accepted it with a smile.

 

They stopped in at the West household on the way back to Kara and Alex’s place, grabbing some of the wine.

 

They locked up Kara’s workshop when they got there, Kara, in her slightly buzzed state, lounged back on her workbench while Barry settled into the chair beside her head, his feet propped up on the workbench.

 

“Why her?” Kara wondered out loud, a sad sigh leaving her lips and she lifted her head to take a swig of her drink. “Out of everyone, why her?”

 

“Maybe it is just the idea of not being able to have her, or the excitement.” Barry offered, slouched in his seat, his head tilted back to peer up at the ceiling, his goblet clutched to his chest. “Maybe this feeling will go away after a few weeks.”

 

“Maybe,” Kara hummed, tilted her head to the side to look at her best friend. “Do you miss Central Village?”

 

This made Barry look at her, his shoulders lifting in a lazy shrug. “No, there are too many bad memories for me there.”

 

“Don’t you feel like- like maybe being here, away from where you were born, is forgetting how your life was before?”

 

“Do you?” Barry questioned curiously, figuring that maybe this wasn’t just about him anymore.

 

“I don’t know,”

 

“Do you miss Krypton?”

 

“Yeah, even with the memory of my parents being killed, I still feel like a part of me is connected to there.” Kara said unsurely.

 

“Well, yes, of course. You were born there, I still feel like a part of me is connected to Central Village but that doesn’t necessarily mean I miss the place.”

 

“I suppose,” Kara hummed, draining the rest of her drink before pouring out another one for herself, topping up Barry’s, too.

 

Barry nodded in thanks, taking a large gulp of his drink. “I don’t even want to think what Joe would do if he found out I loved his daughter.”

 

“Do you think he would be mad?”

 

“Oh, definitely, I am worried he might actually throw me out of the house.”

 

“He wouldn’t do that,” Kara scoffed, “Joe is a good man, he would understand that you can’t help it. At least you haven’t pursued it, that should make him somewhat happy.”

 

“I suppose,” Barry hummed. “We are tragic.”

 

Kara nodded, all droopy eyed and a lot more drunk than she initially expected to get.

 

“I’ve never had someone look at me like Lena does.” Kara mused.

 

“You’re kidding, right?” Barry laughed. “You mean you’ve never _noticed_ someone look at you like Lena does.”

 

“No,” Kara frowned.

 

“Yes.” Barry disagreed. “Both Winn _and_ James looked at you like that at one point. That Mon-El kid still does.”

 

“Winn and James? Pft, nah. No, they are my friends.” Kara argued.

 

“Now, sure. But Winn was in love with you for so long, and James had a thing for you before Lucy.”

 

“Are you sure? Winn is just an affectionate person and James is just nice.”

 

“I’m sure, everyone could see it.” He laughed. “Just like everyone could see your crush on Lena.”

 

“It just never really crossed my mind that that was what it was.” Kara explained. “I was twelve when I first saw her, she was wearing this pretty green dress and her hair was down and curly, she just looked so beautiful. I couldn’t stop thinking or talking about her for weeks after that, and I just put it down to wanting to be a princess, I didn’t even know liking girls was a thing until I walked in on Alex with Vasquez a few years back.”

 

“I get that, I get that you didn’t understand what you were feeling.”

 

“I wish I still didn’t because this hurts.” Kara murmured.

 

“I know it does,” Barry clapped his hand onto Kara’s shoulder, giving it a supportive squeeze.

 

“So, you two thought you would just bring the party back here, did you?” Kara startled at the voice, quickly trying to turn around to see who it was but the movement caused her to fall off the workbench, landing on the stone floor with a thump.

 

Barry’s laugh rung through the room as he stood, peering over the bench to look at her. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I-“ Kara scrambled to her feet, using the bench to keep her stable, offering Alex (an angry looking Alex) a innocent smile. “Hey, Alex.”

 

“I was worried about you, the last I seen you were drinking wine like it was water then you were gone!”

 

“I didn’t drink that much,” Kara argued, the slur in her words telling Alex otherwise.

 

“This is not the way to deal with this, Kara.”

 

“I’m not dealing with anything, I just wanted to have fun.”

 

“I told you to look after her,” Alex pointed at Barry who scrambled backward when Alex advanced on him, tripping over one of Kara’s tools and landing on his butt.

 

Kara snored out a laugh but immediately stopped when Alex glared at her. “You are both as bad as each other.” Alex snapped, eyeing the drunk due, both standing innocently beside each other, giving Alex a puppy dog look. Alex huffed, pointing to the door the lead upstairs to the living quarters. “Bed, sleep this off. your punishment will kick in tomorrow when you wake up.”

 

Kara nodded, her head dropping as she walked past Alex, unlocking the door and allowing Barry to enter first.

 

They both settled on Kara's bed, Kara on her back while Barry leant his head on her stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara was called to the castle two days after the town banquet to start training.

 

She gathered everything she would need and headed up to the castle with Alex. She nervously entered the room Alex pointed her too, Lena’s eyes immediately snapped up to her.

 

Kara offered her an unsure smile, her eyes moving to the King and Maxwell, who were standing beside Lena.

 

Maxwell’s head snapped around to her, a growl appearing on his face.

 

"You would rather this- this _girl_ train the princess over me?" Maxwell spat the word girl like it was some filthy word, throwing Kara a glare as he done so. 

 

Lena looked like she was about to pipe up, to say what Kara wasn't sure but the King got there first. "Women fight different, Maxwell, that's just how it is."

 

"She's just a blacksmith, sir, what does she know about fighting.”

 

The King nodded once, moving to walk past Maxwell and Kara waited to be dismissed but the King walked right past her, too, and over to the collection of swords in the corner, picking up two practice swords. 

 

He handed one to Kara, then to Maxwell, raising a challenging eyebrow at Maxwell. "Fight for it,"

 

"Father," Lena started to argue, glancing over at Kara but Kara had already started taking her jacket off. 

 

"Kara is more than capable of keeping up, I believe that. Right, Miss Danvers?"

 

“Of course, sir.” Kara nodded, and Maxwell smirked cockily. 

 

“I would get really to start, Princess, this shouldn’t take to long.” 

 

Kara ignored the comment, holding her sword in her right hand, holding her left hand out to Maxwell to shake. 

 

Lena couldn’t help but smile, this was entirely in Kara’s character to be polite, even when she was faces with a smug loser like Maxwell.

 

Maxwell eyed her hand but didn’t shake it, instead holding his sword out in Kara’s direction. 

 

Kara just nodded, lowering her hand and holding her sword out to lightly touch Maxwell’s.

 

Maxwell made the first move, which Kara expected, and she quickly blocked the blow, as well as the following two blows, using her shoulder to push Maxwell backwards.

 

Maxwell was larger than her, both in stature and muscular, so he didn’t stumble much, which was fine, that wasn’t the reason behind the push. She wanted to rile Maxwell up, make him angry enough to attack her with everything he had.

 

Maxwell steadied himself, swinging at her again, which Kara blocked, jumping backwards away from the swing at her midsection, just narrowly avoiding the tip of the sword. Maxwell swung down at her head and Kara blocked it, her arm shaking as Maxwell pushed against her sword, his smug face inches from hers.

 

Kara tried to push back, but realised she didn’t stand a chance under these circumstances so she gave one last shove before ducking out of the way, causing Maxwell to stumble forward.

 

Kara knew she didn’t really have time to attack Maxwell with her sword so she kicked the bend in his leg, causing it to buckle.

 

This move seemed to enrage Maxwell, causing him to wheel around and attack her forcefully, which was exactly what Kara wanted. Kara ducked out of the way, pushing Maxwell's back, which made him stumble under his own velocity. 

 

When he turned around to attack her again he stopped when he was met with rounded tip of Kara’s sword in his face. He was panting angrily, which made Kara smile proudly.

 

Kara glanced over at Lena as she lowered her sword, her stomach flipping at the impressed and unmistakably aroused look.

 

“Well, Mr Lord, looks like this blacksmith is more than able to hold her own.” The King had a little, reserved smirk on his lip as he spoke. Lena, on the other hand didn’t even try to hide her smirk. “You are dismissed, Mr Lord.”

 

Maxwell glared over at Kara but brushed passed her, hanging up the sword and leaving.

 

The King offered Kara a little smile, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Do you have everything you need, Miss Danvers?”

 

“Y-yes, sir.” Kara smiled nervously. 

 

“Okay, take as long as you need.”

 

Kara watched the king leave, looking back at Lena with a nervous look.

 

“Are you ready, Princess?”

 

“I told you to call me Lena,” Lena commented.

 

“I think it is best if I don’t.” Kara made her way over to the sword wrack, picking up the practice sword.

 

“I’m sorry you had to fight Maxwell,” Lena said, accepting the sword from Kara, allowing their fingers to brush together as she done so.

 

“It’s no problem, I’m actually kind of glad, it gives you a chance to see first hand what defensive fighting looks like.” Kara said.

 

“Defensive fighting?” Lena questioned curiously.

 

“That’s how my sister taught me to fight, it’s how most women have to fight.” Kara started, letting her sword rest on her shoulder. “We weren’t build to match men blow for blow, they are, in general, much stronger than us. We were build to outsmart men, use our wit and cunning to overpower their brute strength.”

 

Lena listened to Kara attentively, a look on her face that made Kara want to squirm. 

 

She began pacing instead.

 

“You just have to be able to defend yourself long enough to identify a person’s weakness, defence is the best offence.” Kara said. “I will start off by showing you the proper stance to take when fighting, which part of your body you should priories when defending yourself.”

 

Lena nodded and Kara moved to stand beside her, holding her own sword out in front of her, her left leg positioned in front of her right, both of them bent slightly at the knee. “This is your start stance,”

 

Lena nodded, eyeing Kara up and down, for a little longer than Kara figured she probably needed, before mirroring her. 

 

“Good,” Kara nodded, taking the opportunity to look Lena up and down, like Lena had done to her seconds ago. She dipped down gentle touch Lena's front leg, just behind the knee. Lena bent the knee slightly. “Really good. Your right arm is for balance more than anything, so I can’t really tell you what to do with that arm, you will know in the moment.”

 

Kara moved to stand in front of Lena, making the mistake of looking her square in the eye. 

 

“Kara,” Lena started, her sword lowering slightly. 

 

Kara knew what was coming so she shook her head, “That’s not why I’m here, everything that needed to be said was said that day in the workshop. Let’s just do what I’m here to do and let that be it.”

 

Lena looked like she wanted to argue but unlimitedly nodded, lifting her sword again.

 

“Okay, I will teach you how to block each of your limbs.” Kara said unevenly, pointing her sword at Lena’s head. “When there is an attack on your head you lift your sword like this,” Kara held her sword length ways just above her head. “Knocking your opponents sword out of its trajectory, and away from your head.”

 

Kara pointed her sword to Lena’s head, allowing Lena to push it upward like she had shown her. “Okay, now push the sword to the right while you step to the left.” Lena did it, letting her guard drop almost immediately. “You have to be prepared for another attack straight away.” Kara ordered, swinging the sword at Lena’s head quickly, stopping inches from her neck, which startled Lena slightly. “That block move can leave you vulnerable if not followed up properly.”

 

Lena stared over at Kara with a partially impressed but mostly smouldering look, and Kara couldn’t help but get captivated by the look in those green eyes. 

 

Kara cleared her throat, shaking herself out of her Lena induced daze, taking a step back and setting up again. “Okay. Um, lets, uh- let’s practice that move, shall we?”

 

Lena nodded and they set up again, Kara starting off slow, allowing Lena to get used to the movement, remembering the muscle memory of the movements. Once she felt Lena was starting to get the movements she progressively got quicker, more power behind the movements until she lurched at Lena at full speed and Lena just managed to block the attack, her eyes wide in surprise.

 

They moved onto the torso after that, then the limbs, and after almost four hours of practice they were both sweaty and panting.

 

“I’m glad it was you instead of Lord,“ Lena said, wiping her glistening forehead.

 

Kara swallowed thickly, forcing herself not to look at Lena because she was sweaty and flushed and incredible hot. Kara didn’t _need_ that imagine seared into her mind, not while knowing she couldn’t _have_ Lena the way she really wanted. 

 

“Look, Kara, I’m sorry.” Lena sounded sad and genuinely sorry, and Kara couldn’t help but feel bad.

 

“Don’t be sorry, Princess. You are doing what you think is right, you should never be sorry about that. And I’m not mad at you or anything I just- I can’t look at you.”

 

“Why not?” Lena questioned curiously.

 

“I’m afraid of what I might do.” Kara answered quietly, not missing the sharp intake of breath from Lena. “Not that I wouldn’t - I would stop if you told me no, of course, that’s not what I meant.”

 

“I don’t think I would be able to tell you no,” Lena admitted softly.

 

Kara, against her better judgement, looked up at Lena then and, surprisingly, her first instinct wasn’t to press Lena up against the wall and kiss her, instead she simply wanted to hug the woman. Because, as much as Lena looked hot, all flushed and sweaty, she also looked pained, sad, and all Kara wanted to do was wrap her up in her arms and not allow anyone to every hurt her again.

 

“Lena,” Kara whispered and that got Lena’s attention, after being called princess by Kara all night it was nice to hear her name from the woman’s lips. “What can I do? Tell me what to do to make this better and I'll do it."

 

Lena's eyes softened in adoration for this woman, the woman who was more than ready to put aside her own feelings to make Lena feel better. 

 

"I don't think there is anything either of us can do." Lena took a seat on the floor, her back pressed against the wall.

 

“I can- I can tell the king I can’t do this, that he should ask Lord to do it.” Kara offered, sitting cross-legged in front of her.

 

“I know how much my father is paying you, you would give up that?”

 

“It if would make you feel better, yes.”

 

“That wouldn’t make me feel better,”

 

“Then what will?”

 

Lena shrugged, “Nothing I can have.”

 

Kara sighed, looking down at her hands, picking at the skin around her nails. “Can’t we even be friends?” She asked, peering up at Lena though her eyelashes.

 

“I don’t think so.” 

 

Kara nodded, pushing herself up to her feet, grabbing her bag from the floor. “Okay, I should get going, I have a few things I have to do at work.”

 

“Okay, I will call for your sister.” 

 

Alex walk Kara homes, questioning her about how it went with Lena. Kara simply shrugged and told her it was fine. Alex didn’t look like she believed her but she didn’t push, telling Kara that she would be back before she went to bed.

 

—

 

“When are you heading out again?” Kara questioned as walked through the market.

 

“Next week, the King, Queen, and Prince are going to Metropolis, something about a women Lex may be marrying.” Barry shrugged.

 

“And the princess? I haven’t been told not to come for her training sessions.”

 

“I’m sure she is staying, I’ve just been told I will be taking the Queen, King, and Prince.” Barry answered. “How are things going with her?”

 

“Fine, we had our first training session three days ago.” Kara got a better grip on her water jug. “It went well, she has a lot of potential, she really is a natural.”

 

“Is that tension still there?”

 

“Yeah. The way she looks at me, Barry, she makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.”

 

“Is it just lust? Or something more?”

 

“I don’t know. On one hand I know it is partially lust but I also want to look after her.” Kara shrugged her shoulder. “She’s hurting. I don’t know from what, probably a lot of things. She lost someone she loved, she can’t be herself because people say it is wrong. She is probably going to be forced into a marriage she doesn’t want with a man she doesn’t love and have children she doesn’t want and that is really horrible.”

 

“You can’t save her, Kara.”

 

“That’s not what this is about, I don’t want to save her, I don’t _need_ too, she can look after herself, I’m just say that it is sad. Can you imagine being told that what you were feeling, the love you have for someone, is wrong?” Kara huffed. “I know that’s what Alex and Maggie are told, it’s what _I_ would be told if people knew how I felt about Lena, but with Alex and Maggie it is kind of like they can do as they please so long as it is behind closed doors, there’s no way Lena could ever do that.”

 

"I suppose," Barry hummed. "I don't envy her, let me tell you that. The riches would, of course, be nice to have, but there are so many restrictions."

 

"Not for her brother." Kara argued. "He is like the village Casanova, fraternising with any woman that breathes."

 

“Doubt standards, I know.” Barry nodded, “I feel bad for Lena.”

 

“I do too.” Kara hummed.

 

“Are you working tonight?”

 

“I am, the King requested twenty four horse shoes to be made by Saturday. I want to get them out of the way and done, just to be safe.”

 

“How about I prepare dinner while you’re working, it will be ready for you finished and Alex coming home?”

 

“That sounds nice, but aren’t you having dinner with Joe and Iris?” Kara questioned, a little frown appearing on her brow. “Now that I think about it you have hardly spent any time with then while you have been back.”

 

“Eddy is always over,” Barry shrugged. “And I think Joe knows how I feel so I am just trying to stay clear for now.”

 

“That’s not fair,” Kara said. “You are away three weeks out of the month, you rarely get to see them as is. I know it hurts but they miss you, Barry.”

 

“I just need time right now, hopefully once I’m back from this trip that will be enough time.”

 

Kara nodded, giving Barry’s arm a little squeeze. “I get that.”

 

“Okay, new rule for tonight. No more Iris or Lena talk.” 

 

“Deal.”


End file.
